Memories of Murder (2003)

Why is there no review for this movie…? Well, I have to change that.

From the very first moment I saw the description of Memories of Murder I was sure I was going to at least like this film. Why? Let’s begin with genre: I’m a sucker for things related with serial murders; creepy, I know, but I love this dark, eerie atmosphere that’s usually present in such films. After deciding that this movie is worth watching I’ve done a little research about it… and the things I’ve discovered made me even more certain that this movie is just perfect for me. Not only it is based on real events, but the culprit of this crime was never found! Another thing: I’ve read somewhere that Quentin Tarantino said that this movie is among his Top 20 favorite movies since 1992 – well, that’s a sufficient recommendation for me.

This movie has amazing acting - every single actor made his role alive and believable. The most outstanding one was Song Kang Ho, who plays a role of a stupid local detective, good only at forcing testimonies out of (usually innocent) people with a use of brutal force; evidences are not important to him, the only thing he needs is his intuition. So… yeah, you guess right, he’s not what we call a good cop. He has his sidekick, and boy, this guy is even more stupid and brutal than his hyung – it’s usually him who does dirty work (hanging people upside down, kicking them in the face with combat boots, digging a grave for them etc). So how can such detectives resolve as complicated case as serial murders? Fortunately for them, there’s this guy from Seoul who comes to help them in an investigation - and he is the exact opposite of our country bumpkins.

What I liked about this movie was that it wasn’t only about finding a murderer; it also showed us a believable development of characters. Park Doo Man discovers there are other ways to find a culprit than forcing a testimony out of suspects and Seo Tae Yoon starts to doubt his own, "good" methods. It all combined with great acting, thrilling action and a bit of humor creates an amazing movie. So, if you like thrillers and you’re not put off by violence, then Memories of Murder is just for you.

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